


process of elimination

by nygmaniacs



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Mind Control Aftermath, and seizures, no happy ending, pr:u aftermath, this is not a happy story, very short mention of blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 10:06:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16490519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nygmaniacs/pseuds/nygmaniacs
Summary: Hermann had to watch as the world collectively agreed that it was better if they put an end to Newton's life.





	process of elimination

**Author's Note:**

> it's my birthday, im not in a good mood, so i finished this. 
> 
> title from 'O Children' by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
> 
> listen to it while reading maybe im not forcing you to

I.

 

It had been seven weeks, two days and twenty-three hours since Hermann had last seen Newton in person. Almost two months since their last fateful encounter. Almost two months since Newton's hands had wrapped around his throat and his face had twisted into a grimace full of agony and desperation while he whispered 'They're in my head'. It was a heartbreaking moment and remembering those moments made Hermann's body ache. 

 

It had been almost two months since the precursors had tried to use Newton to destroy the world. 

 

Two months of Newton being locked away. 

 

Two months of government officials requesting to "interrogate" Newton, as they liked to put it. 

 

Hermann had never been allowed to see him but he knew what happened in that cell. 

 

The interrogations weren't recorded, at least not by the PPDC but after the officials left and the live feed of Newton's cell continued, Hermann could see the blood crusted under Newton's nose. The bloodshot eyes. His heaving chest. 

 

Sometimes, he seized. 

 

Sometimes, he screamed until his voice gave out.

 

No one came to his aid. 

 

Hermann wasn't allowed. Hermann had to watch, helpless.

 

 

II.

 

He had to watch while the news dragged Newton's name through the mud. Ever since one of the PPDC officials had let it slip that it had been Newton who had put kaiju parts into the jaeger drones and ordered the attack on Tokyo, the news had gone crazy. Newspaper after newspaper had been printed full of articles about Dr. Newton Geiszler. Discussions of his mental health, some even going as far as to blame his family for raising him that way, seemingly forgetting that Newton had also been the one who had saved the world the first time around. 

 

Politicians discussed Newton's case on the news. An international debate starting on what to do with the criminal now that he was locked away. 

 

Hermann didn't want to watch as the world dragged Newton down. As the world collectively decided that his husband was a danger to the world and deserved to be put down for the crimes against humanity he had comitted. 

 

No one was willing to consider that it hadn't been Newton in the first place; that he had as little say in those events as any other person walking this planet. 

 

In the world's eyes, Newton was a threat. Newton was a criminal. Newton was the solution to all their problems. Get rid of him and everything would be fine again. 

 

Hermann didn't want to see it but he had to watch. He had to watch as the world collectively agreed that it was better if they put an end to Newton's life. 

 

Hermann sought out the closest toilet and emptied his stomach's contents.

 

 

III.

 

Hermann watched on his shitty old tv as his love was led into the courtroom. Chains clinking. Upon closer inspection, Hermann could see the purple bags under Newton's lifeless eyes. His face was pale and sunken in. His hair, once messy and sticking up in every direction, was greasy and sticking to his forehead. He had lost weight, a lot of it. His skin was unnaturally pale and his frame was bony. 

 

Newton had always been a cheery, energetic and optimistic man. Never able to shut up or stand still. Hermann looked at him now and he couldn’t recognise a single thing which had made Newton Newton. 

 

He was still, he was dull, he was lifeless. His shoulders were hunched, made himself even smaller than he already was. His stare was empty. His eyes cold. There seemed to be nothing left of the man who had once gone on a three hour rant about something meaningless Hermann so terribly wished he could remember just to preserve that little feel of Newton, of home, for a last time. 

 

The worst, though, was his expression. His eyes looked haunted, like he already knew the verdict. Like he already knew that this would be the nail that would shut his coffin once and for all. He had given up. 

 

Hermann stared. 

 

And then, Hermann screamed. 

 

The Newton he had once known would have never given up. Newton was a man who always pushed through, always looked for a way out and making up the most impossible ways but in the end, he always did it. He was determined, he was stubborn and he never liked to be in the wrong, so he created incredible things from trash, all of that just to shove it in Hermann's face. 

 

This Newton, he had given up and it broke Hermann more than the discovery that Newton's mind had been taken over by an alien race which wanted to destroy all the life on earth.

 

 

IV. 

 

The verdict came on a Thursday. 

 

Hermann watched. 

 

Watched as Newton's hands trembled. 

 

Watched as Newton flinched. 

 

For the first time in his life, Hermann prayed that night. 

 

 

V. 

 

A rumour spread that the crazy doctor's last words had been 'I'm sorry, Hermann'. 

 

Hermann never knew what he was supposed to think of that, after all, he hadn’t been there to hear it himself.


End file.
